Birthday Breakfast

My little guy turned 4 this month. I both can't believe he is four and can't believe he is only just now turning four, all at the same time. How does this happen so quickly?! I swear I can still feel the contractions like it was yesterday! But, on the other hand, he is old and familiar, like he's always been here with me.
There aren't any real birthday traditions in my or my husband's family so I decided to start a birthday breakfast tradition prompted by a pin that I found on Pinterest... Cake Batter Pancakes! Yes! Now these pancakes aren't a regular part of our otherwise very healthy breakfast options, but you only get one birthday a year!
My little guy decided to use his Spider-Man sprinkles that he got from his Grammy for Christmas to make these pancakes extra special. Now my daughter can't wait to personalize her own birthday pancakes when the time comes!



Cake Batter Pancakes
Adapted from Chef-in-Training

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups milk
2-3 Tbsp assorted sprinkles

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. (I needed more milk to get it to the right consistency.)

Preheat a skillet on medium heat (or an electric grilled and turn it to 250 degrees). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute.
Serve with vanilla glaze or whipped cream with extra sprinkles on top :)

Vanilla Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or milk to reach desired consistency. (Again, I needed to add more milk.) Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.




~Alissa

So, here it is, mid-January and I am finally getting around to my first blog post of the year. In my defense, I generally use my iPhone or my iPad to post on my blog and the app I was using kept crashing. As a matter of fact, I had written up and saved a very awesome kids' snack post that got deleted, pictures and all. I promise I will rewrite the recipes and repost it soon... Lesson learned!
Anyhow, to the matter at hand. Goals for 2012! I have a few, which I will list here, and I will hope that you will continue to be my friend and follow my blog after you read them. Not that they are bad, just kinda crazy. So, here goes...

#1: Get in shape.
Cliche, I know, but hear me out. I just want to be able to exercise for more than 10 minutes without being winded. Not so much to ask, right?

#2: Do less stuff.
I'm tired of being too busy for the random, last minute play date or coffee date with a friend. I am tired of going to meetings 2-3 nights a week when I should be home putting my kids to bed while they still let me.

#3: Be in the moment.
I spend way too much time worrying about what might happen or what has happened to enjoy what is happening in the present. That's where it counts. Right now. Right here. I often find myself at a birth, worrying about what the kids are being fed for dinner or if they were picked up on time from a friend's house. I should be soaking in that moment, my experience, and just BE with that momma and that baby. Learn and grow from the lesson that moment gives. I need to work on letting go of the things I cannot change (which may be a whole other goal in itself).

#4: Learn how to take a better picture.
I have a nice camera and I have no idea how to use it. Besides, you guys don't want to keep seeing Hipstamatic pictures on my blog do you?

#5: Blog more.
This one may seem silly but I really do enjoy sharing my life with others. My life is kind of like a boring reality TV show. Working at the preschool or baking big ol' cakes by day and helping laboring mothers by night, all while raising my own two kids and trying to stay sane in the process. (Maybe I should re-evaluate #1. I don't have time to exercise! Silly me!)

#6: Date nights.
More please! Of course, this includes broadening our babysitter base which is ridiculously lacking.

#7: Sew more.
Me time? Wishful thinking...

I'm sure there are more and the list will grow as the year moves on. So, I will post this bad boy on the fridge next to the cute pictures and drawings where it will be sure to be forgotten and hope that, when I do come across it later, some of my goals will have been achieved.

What are your goals this year? Or do you prefer to use the word resolutions? I'm not a fan. Resolutions seem to be quickly made and quickly forgotten. Goals are something to strive for all year long. I'm trying goals this year. I'll let you know if that works out...

Let's do this!



~Alissa

Location:Not so New Year's Goals {not resolutions}

A Ballet Bag for my Sweet Girl

I have been wanting to make a ballet bag for Madelyne for over a year now. I mean, seriously... this adorable girl deserves a cute, hand-made ballet bag!

Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol was the second sewing book I ever bought. It's a pretty fun book with a lot of ideas and great information for beginning sewers like myself. The "Pleated Beauty Handbag" has always been one of my favorites in the book. I would dream up what it would look like in different fabrics. THIS was the perfect bag! It seemed a little advanced for me (pleats, really?) but I just had to make it!



A fuzzy view of my cut pile... It looked like this for a long time :)

Amy Karol does some embroidery on the front of her bag, but my little girl needed an "M." The "M" was finished months ago. Once I started the project in earnest, it actually came together much faster than I thought it would.

All in all, I'm pleased with the bag. There aren't any puckers and even my hand sewing isn't too shabby. It was a challenge for me, though. There are a lot of steps and I had to read the instructions a hundred times. Apparently I have a lot to learn about sewing jargon!



(I promise to work on my photography. I know it's BAD!)

There are a lot of steps to this bag. I hope that the next one is easier. I'm sure it will be. Practice definitely pays off when it comes to sewing. If only there were one more hour in every day that I could dedicate to sewing... Or maybe two.



The finished product!



Headed to ballet!

What's for dinner? A Chicken, Chard and Lemon Lasagna!

Ever since my knee surgery six weeks ago my desire to stand in the kitchen and cook has greatly diminished. Honestly, it's easy to get used to having someone else make dinner! This week the weather turned semi-Fallish and I have had a sudden inspiration to cook again. Thank goodness!!! Last night was a delicious potato leek soup (at least I heard it was delicious... I was at a birth). Tonight I pulled up my sleeves to try something new: Martha Stewart's Sausage, Chard and Lemon Lasagna. We received some beautiful Rainbow chard in our CSA box this week and we have an amazing Meyer lemon tree potted on our patio. I happened to have some chicken so I decided to use that instead of the sausage. I am certain the sausage would be amazing in this though.



Chicken, Card and Lemon Lasagna
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, March 2011

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
Zest of one lemon
5 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (I used Rainbow chard)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken tenders
1 lemon, very thinly sliced (a mandolin would have been nice!)
6 no-boil lasagna noodles



Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over high heat. Stir in flour and cook for two minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil and continue to stir. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper (to taste). Stir in chard.

3. Heat another skillet on high heat and add EVOO. Place chicken in skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes on each side until chicken is just cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and chop into small pieces. Set aside.

4. Place sliced lemons in a sauté pan and cover with three inches of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 7 minutes. Remove lemon slices from pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

5. Cover the bottom of a glass or ceramic 8x8 inch pan with 1/2 cup of sauce. Place 2 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce and top with half of the chicken and 1 cup of the sauce. Repeat. Top with a layer of lemons, 2 noodles, then remaining sauce and lemons. Bake, covered for 30 minutes.

6. Remove from oven. Turn on broiler. Uncover lasagna and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cheese. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until bubbly.



Enjoy! It's delish!

A great gift: The Infinity Scarf

A very special person is celebrating her birthday tomorrow! So, I made her a present! My friend, Sora, wanted one thing for her birthday... an infinity scarf. That had to be pretty easy to make, right? Right!
My first lesson was in material. We live in Santa Barbara so a heavy scarf usually isn't needed here. I did a little research and it seemed that voile would be the perfect weight. It is a super-light cotton that feels silky to the touch. There are tons of prints to choose from. Thank goodness my sewing goddess, Raven, keeps quite a stash at her house! I picked out a chocolate brown and a light blue floral pattern to create a two-sided scarf.
My machine was giving me a hard time... Who knew that re-threading your machine could fix it? (Raven to the rescue, again!) So the project got to a slow start. This scarf really only took about a half an hour to machine sew and then another half an hour (due to my utter lack of skill) to hand sew. Once I work on my hand sewing skills I think this will be a pretty quick and easy project. Perfect for a birthday or Christmas present.
I followed two tutorials to complete this project. The measurements I took from The Cottage Home and the closing instructions from Anna Maria Horner's Make page.
Try it! It's easy and fun!!!



The finished product!



My little model trying it out for me :)

The quilt, an ACL and a kitty cat

The quilt is finished! And just in time too! I was planning on hitting the road down to San Diego for the baby shower at 10:00 and there I was, at 10:30, putting it in the washer. With the turn of the knob and a prayer, my latest piece was given up to the universe in hopes that it would still be in one piece!


Usually I wouldn't be worried, but the pieces I've made before had been all pre-washed. After consulting my quilt goddess, Raven, I learned that I didn't have to pre-wash my batting! What?! I don't?! Boy, that was a pain last time! I tied it up in a pillow case and washed it on delicate. Did you know that I dislike anything that needs to be washed in a special way? I do. So, I jumped for joy when I realized my quilting life had now changed forever! The catch? Well, there isn't one if you don't mind some bunching between your stitching after your quilt is washed. Personally I like that look, but it still didn't make me feel any better when I put that quilt in the washing machine.
I am very pleased with how the quilt came out with the exception of the binding. Binding is my nemesis! First of all, I made the binding yesterday, the day I was supposed to leave. I made a 2 inch binding (note to self: that is NOT enough for a quilt!


It also didn't help that this guy attacked my leg and the binding the whole time I was sewing.


(He looks sweet here, but he's really a rascal!)

I have only binded one other quilt on my own and that was with help on the more challenging parts (the corners and tails on the ends). I attempted to follow the steps here but, in my altered state of mind, I couldn't wrap my head around the directions for finishing the ends. So, I made it up and it looks terrible! I don't recommend it. Next time I'm calling in the goddess! I learn better that way anyhow!


Now, on to the altered state of mind I just mentioned... Last Saturday, I participated in an alcohol enhanced game of trampoline dodgeball and tore my ACL in my left knee. At least it's not my sewing or driving knee, right?! I'm chit toy on pain meds and scheduled for surgery on Monday. Besides, as my mother always says, "It will feel better when it stops hurting!"

Fiesta cupcakes!

Here in good ol' SB we just finished a weekend of parades, parties, rodeo, confetti and margaritas. Viva la Fiesta!!! Needless to say, it was busy and super FUN!



In honor of the weekend I searched for the perfect cupcakes to make for a BBQ we had on Sunday. Nothing else would do once I found this recipe from one of my favorite baking blogs, Brown Eyed Baker. Margarita cupcakes! Are you kidding me!? These things looked amazing! Who doesn't like a tequila and lime cupcake with the frosting to match, sprinkled with salt and topped with a wedge of lime? Sold. Not only were my taste buds rewarded greatly, so was my ego... I got so many compliments. So, may I suggest, have a party, have a BBQ, or just make these for fun! You will not be sorry!



Although I am not quite ready to adapt my own recipes and add them to my blog (don't you see how long it took me to post this one?!), I will someday. For now, here's the link to these amazing Margarita Cupcakes!

Enjoy!